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Not currently on display at the V&A

Fragment

1905 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Serabit el-Khadim, in the Sinai peninsula, was an important turquoise mine worked throughout Egyptian history. The miners seem to have come largely from this region rather than the Nile valley; many graffiti were found at the site written in a language now termed ‘Proto-Sinaitic’. In his excavations of 1904-5, Flinders Petrie discovered huge numbers of votive items deposited at the temple of Hathor at the site, mostly dating to the New Kingdom. These were typically small items such as bracelets, plaques, sistra and figurines, usually made of blue-green glazed composition. This turquoise colour was ritually important to Hathor, who amongst many attributes was considered the protective deity of mining regions (one of her many names was ‘Lady of Turquoise’).


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Glazed composition
Brief description
Fragment of a votive bracelet, blue-green glazed composition, Serabit el-Khadim, Egypt, New Kingdom
Physical description
Fragment of a blue-green glazed composition bracelet, with a rectangular cross-section.
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.3cm
  • Width: 3.4cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Transliteration
.
Gallery label
Found at Serabit el Khadim (peninsula of Sinai) during 1904-05 excavations.
Object history
Found at Serabit el-Khadim, 1904-5 excavation season.
Summary
Serabit el-Khadim, in the Sinai peninsula, was an important turquoise mine worked throughout Egyptian history. The miners seem to have come largely from this region rather than the Nile valley; many graffiti were found at the site written in a language now termed ‘Proto-Sinaitic’. In his excavations of 1904-5, Flinders Petrie discovered huge numbers of votive items deposited at the temple of Hathor at the site, mostly dating to the New Kingdom. These were typically small items such as bracelets, plaques, sistra and figurines, usually made of blue-green glazed composition. This turquoise colour was ritually important to Hathor, who amongst many attributes was considered the protective deity of mining regions (one of her many names was ‘Lady of Turquoise’).
Bibliographic reference
Brcelets of this type are shown in W.M.F. Petrie, Researches in Sinai (New York: Dutton and Co., 1906): 143-4, Fig. 149
Collection
Accession number
701A-1905

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Record createdJanuary 18, 1999
Record URL
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